In the bafflingly transformed political landscape of G7 democracies that now includes the previously unimaginable Cinderella stories of Jeremy Corbyn, Bernie Sanders, Beppe Grillo and Donald Trump, could this be the moment when the stars finally align and Canada embraces perpetual political bridesmaid Tony Clement?

The Conservative MP, former Harper cabinet minister and twice-failed leadership candidate will presumably be hoping so when he announces a third bid for the crown in Mississauga tomorrow.

In 2004, Clement ran against Stephen Harper and Magna heiress Belinda Stronach, finishing a distant third. That followed a 2002 bid for the Ontario Progressive Conservative leadership, in which he also finished third.

Could this time be different?

Neither of his leadership losses have discouraged him from trying a third time. Nor has the Harper government baggage that came with the cancellation of the long-form census when he was industry minister, or the millions in dubious infrastructure spending in his riding in preparation for the 2010 G8 summit.

After winning his Parry Sound-Muskoka riding by 28 votes in 2006, Clement won it easily in 2008, 2011, and again last October, seeming to endear himself to his constituents through things like his monthly Allan Cross-like DJ set for his local community radio station, Hunters Bay Radio — 88.7 FM — and his thoroughly-shared passion for massive music festivals like Coachella.

Writing in the Globe and Mail in 2010, John Ibbitson labeled Clement the “Teflon Man” for being able to survive “a string of crises that long ago would have sunk a lesser politician.”

While that could be, it presupposes there is something to sink, when it could be that scandal doesn’t stick to Clement because, well, nothing really does.

At his leadership announcement in 2004, Clement joked that he had a “face for radio”. As many of his former federal cabinet and caucus colleagues have left or are leaving politics for the private sector (John Baird, Peter MacKay, James Moore) or provincial politics (Jason Kenney, Patrick Brown), he keeps chugging along — neither really seeming to inspire his allies nor infuriate his enemies.

Speaking at the annual Manning Centre conference in February, Clement got some attention for coming out against the federal government’s $1 billion subsidy of CBC. But he was self-aware enough to know that launching his campaign last week, as Jason Kenney announced his plans for the future, risked it getting overshadowed.

This despite his many years in the public eye.

While leadership race polls are notoriously unreliable, the 55-year old Clement hasn’t done particularly well in them in recent months.

And yet without having officially launched this campaign, former Alberta provincial cabinet minister Gary Mar and John Capobianco — the former Fleishman-Hillard’s national lead for public affairs and the latter Michael Ignatieff’s Conservative opponent in 2006 in Etobicoke-Lakeshore — are already on board.

At this stage, Conservative strategist Tim Powers told iPolitics, there isn’t a “decided advantage” for any of the soon-to-be four declared candidates: Clement, Kellie Leitch, Michael Chong, and Maxime Bernier

“Any of those four candidates can win. Tony gets teased for always being the guy entering the race, but eventually he might win the race. He is well liked in the Conservative Party. He’d certainly be able to attract some (party members) who’ve been aligned with him in the past. He probably has the longest set of relationships in the Conservative Party, some of that can matter too,” he said.

With the leadership nomination period not ending until February, however, there’s plenty of time for others to join.

Generally, candidates who get into the race early do so because they need to build a profile, Powers said, speculating that Clement may have decided to do so now to dissuade others from running.

Lisa Raitt, a cabinet colleague in the Harper government, and Andrew Scheer — the former speaker — are both believed to be considering it.

A lot of the chatter Power said he’s hearing in Conservative circles right now, though, is about Michael Chong.

“In an age where Conservatives need to be inclusive and broader in appeal, Michael has got a pretty interesting resume…That seems to be the conversation now. Whether that means anything or not come next May (when the next leader is chosen), who knows,” he said.

But the candidates with the largest profiles, he added, have the luxury of being able to wait.

“Peter MacKay is the last of the big guns who, if he stepped in, probably would have a good initial commanding lead,” Powers said.

“I’ve talked to him a few times about the challenges and opportunities as he sees them…He’s very blessed to have to have a lot of good opportunities before him at the moment, and he’s wading through them.”